39:9 "No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"
What struck me about this passage was the insertion of the Judah/Tamar drama in the middle of the Joseph story. It struck me that the story of Judah and his daughter-in-law deals with sexual impropriety which is the same crux of the next chapter in Joseph's saga. It seemed pretty clear to me (knowing the outcome of Joseph's story) that the author is making a clear juxtaposition of the outcome of disobeying or obeying God's moral law. Judah was publicly humiliated, Joseph would eventually be publicly honored.
Joseph had the right attitude when confronted with sin. While he acknowledged that it would be a sin against Potiphar, he says "how then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" Now I certainly don't want to sin against Michelle, but I should understand that if I sin against her, I'm primarily sinning against God. The God who sent His Son to die for those same sins! I know this is nothing new, but the lesson I'm taking from this passage is that I need to learn to hate sin like God hates sin. If I can do that, I know I will sin much less.
Lord, help me to understand who is hurt when I sin. Help me to hate sin the way you do. Help me to abhor what is evil and cling to what is good.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment